well I bought 2 more Kribs

[rollntider]

to go with my other kribs and found out 1 died. so I now have 3. Any advice on what could have caused it? the other Krib seems to thrive adn have plenty of hiding places(caves). Could it have been the stress from moving?
Any tips on these fellas would be appreciatted.
thanks

 

[Alia]

You don't give much detail for wanting a diagnosis! How long had you had the fish that died? What symptoms did it exhibit before it died? What were your water parameters? Did it seem healthy when you released it into your tank? C'mon, help us out a bit.

I'm kinda wondering about you buying two more to "go with" the pair you have. IME, kribs are not particularly social with one another. They seem to do best one pair to a tank. Were you hoping for a breeding and they weren't showing signs of interest in each other? Are they sexually mature or juveniles?

My limited experience with this fish has taught me the following things:

Kribs rarely come to the surface for food if they can avoid it. They really like "cichlid crumbles", bloodworm, and brine shrimp, but they aren't too picky. Kribs thrive in water temp of 79-80, pH of 7.5, and nitrates of 20-40. Stress may bring on disease, as with any fish. Parenting may be stressful (it was for my male -- he died a month after the fry came )

One fish alone in a tank spooks easy. A tank full of kribs get along better than 3 kribs do. A male and female alone in a tank results in fry. Kribs make excellent parents and take better care of fry than you can. One male in a community tank seems to work ok, for the most part. Fish who share a tank with a breeding pair are likely to be harassed. Leftover fry in a breeding tank are likely to be harassed. Leftover siblings are likely to harass each other according to size. Females seem to be just generally unfriendly, once they've spawned. Females grow much more colorful as they age. Males grow more colorful when they are interested in a female.

That about covers what I know, based on the 28 kribs I have had (twenty six were fry that I kept for seven months). If you have any specific questions, I will do my best to answer them.

 

[rollntider]

wow excellent responce.
Sorry paramaters were 7.2 ,0ppm Ammonia,0ppm Nitrites, 50 Nitrates
I think it may have been sick or stressed from the move.

 

[Alia]

wow excellent responce

TY ) Glad you enjoyed my little ramble.

Parameters sound good, except that nitrates are a bit on the high side. Some people manage to get theirs down to almost nothing -- I am not one of them. Even with a tank full of plants, 25 is about as good as it gets. If the fish was already stressed from the move, 50 could have made a difference. But I have another thought.

My lfs was very concerned about my pH level -- that it would be the same as his. He says people bring fish in from a different pH (because they don't do reg. water changes or something), and the fish die. Perhaps it was a change in pH that led to your fish's demise? Just a suggestion.

How did it die? You're still pretty stingy with the details! Fast? Slow? Gasping? Laying on the bottom? Floating on the top? Eating/not eating? It might not tell me much, but those kinds of things might help a really experienced fishkeeper take an educated guess. And you never know -- one might come along.

How is the 2nd new krib doing? And how are the other two treating him/her?

 

[rollntider]

i came home from work and started looking for him. That morning it looked like he couldn't close his mouth and was breathing heavy.
As you can tell in my sig i have other fish in there.The rest are doing fine. I am debating on what to do with the pleco and the tetras. I will probably move some to my 55. My son loves that pleco. He calls it his"big cleaning fish" and makes sure I acknowledge it. as for the other Kribs they seem to be thriving and doing very well. They all seem to enjoy the frozen blood worms. Mana from heaven and seem to like munching on the plants. The new male is keeping the tetras at the top of the water. and the kribs seem to like hanging down low. I talked to the guy at the pet store and he told me to come by and get another one from him for free since the last one died. (I bought the other pair from another pet store) I am hooked on these little dwarf cichlids. these guys are cool. Everyone is getting along as long as the tetras hang to the top. Mr Kribs sees to that. He seems to like both females and the 2 females dont seem bothered by each other. I am probably going to get the other male krib and put a pair in the 55 and leave one in the 29.

 

[rollntider]

I did want to ask a question. I was thinking of trading my big pleco in for some ottos. would ottos be safe in there with the kribs?

 

[Alia]

The new male is keeping the tetras at the top of the water. and the kribs seem to like hanging down low.

Yes, that's exactly right. Staking out his territory: both women and the entire lower part of the tank. IME, kribs only rise from the bottom for food (if necessary) or to chase other fish.

would ottos be safe in there with the kribs?

I have thought about otos myself, due to an algae problem. I've found a really excellent article about otos, thought it does not adress compatibility issues. You'll find it here:
Otos
Read these for sure. They are helpful, and much shorter.
Kribs with Otos
Kribs in 29 gal

You might want to be careful about getting another krib and having a pair in each tank. It could make it very difficult for you to have other fish in those tanks. Even a small krib seems to fear nothing except a larger, meaner krib. The males are more mellow when there are no females around, but you already have the two females, so I don't know. Be sure you read those last two links. Maybe you can trade a female for a male and have a male in each tank and a female in only one tank. You can let her choose the male, then move the other one.

This is getting long, but I should mention, the reason I have synodontis catfish is that I've read that they are natives of the same general areas of Africa and seem not to be intimidated by the kribs. That is quite true of my eupterus. They do grow to 6 or 7 inches, however, so one can't house too many in a 29 gallon tank. Nigriventris are half that size full grown, but you'd be lucky to ever see them.
Second Opinion
The above link recommends tetras and cories and otos as tankmates for kribs and other cichlids in their group, but I don't know as I'd agree -- not with a breeding pair, anyway. Otherwise, sure.

Anyway, I hope these links help you out.

 

[rollntider]

it appears that ottos or corys may not be good tank mates with them from the reading. I was wanting to have 2 pair but that may not be feasible? Would it be possible with a heavily planted tank and a lot of caves to have 2 pair? I think my larger female is already courting the male, she has this awesome purple/red color to her at times and when the male is there I see her kinda digging in the gravel. He seems to be interested in eating little twigs of plant my tank is sparcly planted now, but it isnt a problem to move the pleco and heavily plant the tanks to try for 2 pair in there. I have made some caves with flower pots and PVC (waiting on the silicone to cure now) I am going to heavily plant the tank anyways. I will prolly find another way to have a second pair...thanks for the links very helpful

 

[Alia]

Would it be possible with a heavily planted tank and a lot of caves to have 2 pair?

With most territorial fish I believe they suggest making clear boundary lines, like having a "log" or some other structure bisect the aquarium diagonally, that sort of thing. My instinct tells me that will not work for kribs, but as I have said, my experience is limited. With mine, any fish he can see is trespassing. My female tried to chase away the vacuum tube!

Maybe if they were young when you got them (juveniles) or had been raised together (siblings) or there were a lot of other fish in the tank for them to concern themselves with, or . . . maybe, maybe, maybe. I'm sure some kribs are more aggressive than others, especially the wild caught ones. I't's hard to say until you've had a pair breed, but it doesn't sound like yours are quite there yet. My male coloured up as soon as I put a female in his tank, and she seemed kind of small to me (but her belly was very pink). It was a while before they actually spawned, but they showed interest right away.

The things that would concern me most is that either the two males would be fighting over one female and ignoring the other, or the two females would fight over one male, perhaps to the death, ignoring the other. You seem determined, so I'll just say to keep your eye on things -- it could get ugly. Fish seldom meekly comply with our desires. They like to surprise us.

Happy fishkeeping!

 

[rollntider]

I think I will have rthe other pair in another tank then, I appreciatte your input...anyways have a look at Guido and Roxanne in the members pictures area....

 

[iloveyou]

my kribs beat up the cory i stuck in with them.... and the pleco thats still in there is missing a lot of fins...

if your tank is big enough it might be ok tho... my kribs are stuck in a 10 gallon so territory is an issue in my tank... aslong as you got places to hide for the pleco it should be ok, but i know cories and kribs both like the bottom so they may conflict

 

[rollntider]

my kribs beat up the cory i stuck in with them.... and the pleco thats still in there is missing a lot of fins...

if your tank is big enough it might be ok tho... my kribs are stuck in a 10 gallon so territory is an issue in my tank... aslong as you got places to hide for the pleco it should be ok, but i know cories and kribs both like the bottom so they may conflict

no cory cats in this tank, this is strait tetras and Kribs. As much as i love Cory Cats, I would not want to see them get killed like that....